It’s Dan Brown (@mercbrownie) filling in for mighty Alex Pavlovic. Here are a few post game updates, some of which will appear in tomorrow’s print edition.

# # #

Bruce Bochy had it all mapped out: If Buster Posey could somehow reach base leading off the bottom of the ninth inning Friday night, he would dispatch speedy Gregor Blanco as a pinch runner.

Posey saved his manager the trouble.

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The All-Star catcher blasted a pitch into the left-field seats for his first career game-ending hit, giving the Giants a 2-1 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers at AT&TPark.

And Posey could handle that trotting around the bases just fine, thanks.

“We don’t hit a lot of home runs,’’ Bochy said. “But they’re coming at a great time.”

Posey’s fourth homer of the season, off a full-count pitch from reliever Ronald Belisario, marked the seventh time this season that the Giants have hit a game-tying or go-ahead home run after the eighth inning.

# # #

Dodgers shortstop Hanley Ramirez sustained a left-hamstring injury and needed help off the field after getting thrown out at third in the sixth inning. Ramirez started this season on the disabled list because of a thumb injury sustained during a World Baseball Classic game at AT&T Park. This was just the fourth game for Ramirez since being activated Monday.

Bill Shaikin (@BillShaikin) of the Los Angeles Times tweeted after the game that “Mattingly compared Ramirez’s hamstring strain to Kemp’s last year. Kemp missed 51 games.”

# # #

Dodgers cleanup hitter Adrian Gonzalez was a late scratch because of neck stiffness. Jerry Hairston Jr. took his spot at first base. Shaikin quoted Gonzalez as saying: “I can’t turn my neck right now.”

# # #

In Game 2 of the series on Saturday, the Giants will send Ryan Vogelsong (1-2, 6.23) to the mound against the Dodgers’ Matt Magill (0-0, 2.70).

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Posey’s home run was the first walk-off homer by a Giant since Nate Schierholtz on July 6, 2011 against San Diego.

# # #

Zito allowed only one run in 5.0-plus innings. His 25.0 scoreless innings streak at home when he gave up that run in the fifth.

# # #

This was Metallica Night at AT&T Park, a thrill for lead singer James Hetfield, who lives in the Marin area and is a big fan of all the Bay Area teams. “You turn around and all of a sudden, hey, someone else is in the playoffs,’’ Hetfield said. “It’s great. Year-round torture.”

If you have the chance, go back and listen to at least the last two innings with Vin Scully. It was great hearing him announce Posey’s walk off. He could hardly fathom all the Dodgers’ missed chances earlier. So it goes.

MLB network crew last night could not understand why Mattingly let Kershaw pitch to Posey while Pence, on deck, was 0-27 against him.

Enonymous

It wasn’t kershaw anymore…

Keep’n It Real

I know Joe West was pinching both Zito and Kershaw all night, but I literally jumped out of my seat when Romo had…in my opinion…strike 3 on Kemp…and “Cowboy Joe” was apparently not impressed.

No hit for most of the game by Kershaw…but this team kept fighting and ends up getting Kershaw out of there on pitch count…then sends the bums home with a walk-off. Then you look in the standings and the Rockies lose. Nice!

I can think of many Giants seasons where they were down…and you knew they weren’t coming back. Not this year’s team. This is “must watch” stuff…all through their 27 outs.

Lefty

I think jerseygiant meant the sixth inning when Posey drove in Scutaro with a double off Kershaw. Of course, the funny thing was Pence DID get a hit next (Posey thrown out at the plate).

So Clutch, is there some other injury you feel is OK to wish on someone?

Hanley appears to be a no heart showboat and probably earned this injury by piling up bad karma. My heart breaks for him.

NOT!

Giant PITA

Apparently, all the Doyer money in the world can’t prevent injuries. Seems like half their roster is on the DL.

Lefty

Rod: Ha! Good call. Went back to the archive and listened to Vin call the ninth. After Buster’s homer: “The Dodgers had so many opportunities…it’s as if they were standing around waiting to be beaten. And they were beaten.”

You’re right. It got my day off to a great start.

dgg

This I didn’t know, because I’ve never paid that much attention to Belisario. Before last night’s walk-off home run against Belisario, Posey was 0-for-6 with five strikeouts. That makes what Posey did all the more remarkable.

Posey said: “He’s got a ton of movement on his fastball and he’s had a lot of success against me. Really just looking for something up and try to be short to it and get the barrel on it.”

Lefty

Five starting pitchers on the DL, and the Dodgers’ lineup at the end of the game included Punto, Cruz, Sellers, Schumaker, and Hairston.

Will Clark would say it’s because they have angered the baseball gods.

This injury list may keep Mattingly employed for awhile, though. Hard to blame him too much for the team losing under these circumstances.

http://3renfrews@comcast.net robin

Kershaw is nails. What a great pitcher. I saw that Kemp is 1-28 against the Giants this year. Could not happen to a better guy.The question was not why they pitched to Posey in the ninth but why Kershaw pitched to him earlier with Scuataro on second. He could of walked him and faced Mr 1-28 with two men on. Instead Buster smashes a double in triple’s alley.

Important start for Vogelsong today. He needs to show a little somethin somethin

dgg

Yogi Barrister says:
May 3rd, 2013 at 11:58 pm

“First, the Giants are tied for first”

===

Best First comment so far of the 2013 season.

OMT

Moderation is getting really really annoying and preventing the flow of this blog. I’d rather skip over all the trolls if it’s come to this.

Matthew

Lefty & Rod, where exactly can I find that call? Also, did Kuip call it on the radio?

How improbable was that? Wow. I have to admit, I was over in Sharks territory for much of the night. For those non-hockey fans here, Vancouver is awfully close to the Dodgers in terms of “much hated opponent”, so to tie them in the last minute and beat them in OT was sweet music… And very much like the G’s win. We all had a joyous Friday as my family watched both from various west coast climes…

I thought it was so “cute” and fatherly of Scutaro to shepherd Buster into the scrum after the walk off… And the bounce house seemed to be a bit gentle, knowing that isn’t Buster’s style and worrying about his ankle perhaps.

Anybody know anything about the young man pitching tonight?

wine baroness

Wasn’t Scutaro on 3rd??

That’s why they pitched to Buster.

Michael

No injury should be wished upon any player-or from an earlier post-snickered at. The color of the player’s uniform doesn’t change that. Mr. Pita has begun his own bad Karma pile…

Mike

Mattingky will be fired and replaced with Sciocca no later than seasons end. Before if Angels fire Scoccia earlier. Mattingly is simply a poor manager.

OMT

Now posts aren’t even showing up, and I’m not even getting the “your post is under moderation” thing. Try to post it again and I get “you’ve already posted that”. ugh. Where is it!!

Mike

Imagine if Giants SP starts coming around? Clearly best team in division. Rox will fade and AZ does not have enough hitting.

Lefty

Matthew: It’s been quite a week for the Bay Area, hasn’t it? Warriors advance to the second round. Sharks up 2-0 on the road. Giants with four straight come-from-behind wins.

I subscribe to MLB.TV, so I dialed up the game in the archive. You can choose which feed (LA or SF), and I fast-forwarded to the 9th and listened to Vin call it.

Kuiper did call Buster’s homer on the radio. I heard the clip last night on KNBR before going to bed. The ball went out so fast that Kuip didn’t have time to do his whole “unwind” thing.

Ryan

While the Giants were not quite Damage Incorporated, they got it done on Metallica night.

Fun night on the blog, thanks for playing, all who played. Not quite Metallica/GNR at the Rose Bowl circa 1994, but it was pretty rockin’. Seems there was Justice For All when perhaps the best Battery mate in baseball sent the fans home happy – and the Bread Fans could finally feast (yep, talking to you seagulls).

TheObserver

Great win by our boys. This Giant team stubbornly refuses to go down easily. They keep their nose to the grindstone and have the confidence to know that it will pay off eventually. They just hang in there and give guys like Buster a chance to make a difference.
Baseball is a great game that can’t be ruined even by the likes of Joe West. He is lousy and lazy and he knows it, that’s why he has that confrontational attitude. Please MLB get rid of this guy, his act was worn thin years ago.

Ryan

I don’t get those Friday night local broadcasts on the tube, so a game like last night is radio only.

The calls were spectacular. You always have a good inkling whether a long fly ball is going to have the distance or not. Whether it’s Miller, Fleming or Kuip, the pace and inflection amplifies the description. You can just about track the ball into Eithier’s glove, or off the bricks or way out of the yard. The play at the plate was just as good. There is such a build up of expectation until the climactic moment.

Ryan

Was that Giants 9th or 10th comeback win of the season?

Think of this: they trailed in those 9-10 and they obviously trailed in their 12 losses. That’s 21 or 22 of their 29 games that they’ve trailed.

Yet they are 17-12, in a 4 way tie for 2nd best record. Cards out front by one over Giants, Pirates, Braves and Rockies.

Expect some minor shuffling behind the Cardinals in the Week 5 Power Rankings.

OMT

What I dislike most about the “network” broadcasts is the constant use of the ticker at the bottom. So very distracting. Attention NBC production crew… Just put a stationary graphic up. It works just as well, and in fact, better.

kyle Perizi

I fell asleep after the 8th inning last night and missed Buster’s stroke of genius shot to left field. Damn ( I curse my Nyquil addiction )!

The game had a lot of action for a 2-1 final and was a great come back against the dogiers’ ace. Seeing the Giants celebrate on the field and surround Buster as he hits home plate was the best part of the win.

Seeing Romo choke out the final 3 outs from the bad guys is really something to behold, he wants it and he’s fearless going about it. The guy has picked up exactly where he left off last year. What a hammer to have in your arsenal

OMT

Long live,

The C U R S E de Mc Court !!

OMT

Ha Ha, got it through! Have a great day folks.

Lefty

They said it was the Giants’ 10th comeback win last night. And that actually even underestimates what the team has done. Consider:

–The game in Chicago where Belt hit a go-ahead double in the top of the ninth and Romo blew the save
–The game in Milwaukee where the Giants climbed back from a 3-0 deficit to tie it but lost in the ninth
–The game against the Snakes where Belt hit a homer to tie it but they lost the game in extra innings
–Ditto the next night against the Snakes, only Crawford hit the homer
–The game in SD where Zito coughed up a 5-run lead and the Giants came back to tie it before losing in extra innings.

I’m probably missing a couple, too. So in addition to ten come-from-behind wins, in at least five of their 12 losses, they’ve rallied from a deficit to either tie the game or take the lead before losing it. Wow.

E-B

Whew, what a game; what a win!

Good comments, esp. decisions in the 6th.
Sure worked out nicely for us.

Zito & Co + D held off 11 hits to just 1 run.
Impressive, even if w/out AGonzo, CarlC and MarkE.

Buster, Scoots, Pence got it done. I thought Belt almost hit one out, and he worked the count very nicely in 3rd, as did Zito.

Kershaw was Kershaw. He rarely missed outside the real SZ.

What struck me most about this game is how a really bad ump affects a game. If JoeW was consistent for 9, that would be a different story, but he was not. Both pitchers had to throw at least 5+ strikes for a K, bcuz SZ was a joke, yet it was not consistent through 9. JoeW does not deserve to be an ump; too much of his own inflated ego out there.

——————————–

rootin for Vogey & Co. to spin a good one tonight.

dgg

Zito pitched out of jams last night by inducing ground ball double plays. Has he always been a master at this? When you google “Zito induced double play,” a whole list of memorable games and plays pops up.

ClutchUp

Pita: I don’t do much wishig for any type of injuries.

Rather beat everyone @ full strenghth. I know Hanley is a baby.

Don’t hate LA, but don’t caree for them either…

Injuries, had my share.

Busters injury was a brute.
Hanley pain was bad.

Btw Matt Kemp is a good guy!

Michael

More noteworty than than the walk off was where Buster hit it. From about section 138 in the LF bleachers to the foul line is the friendliest part of ATT for a RH power hitter. There’s a long list of hitters who have proven that ATT is a nice ballpark for such a hitter. I’m not for a minute suggesting that Buster change his approach, but that it would be nice to draft and develop more guys who might take advantage of what visiting sluggers already do ( and what Uribe and Burrell took advantage of in 2010).

The no-hitter was gone in the sixth, Kershaw was gone after seven, and the team with the highest payroll in National League history was left to deploy this infield: Jerry Hairston Jr. at first base, Nick Punto at second, Sellers at shortstop and Luis Cruz at third.

In other words, the Dodgers had injury replacements at three positions and a guy batting .098 at third base.

Slide Dog

Michael, I’ve recently thought that Posey does change his approach, particularly in late innings and in situations where a HR is called for. Normally he’s up the middle and to right-center with his power, but on those occasions, he’ll try’n jerk one and hits it to left field. Example .. HR off Latos in the playoffs last year.

You almost never see him pull one down the third base line however, so for Posey, jerking one is a matter of degree. He’s one talented dude.

Dario Argento

I hope Vogelsong is nice and ticked so he can carve up some Dodger dogs!! Come on, Vogelsong, join the party!!!

totalfan62

Great game to watch last night. I was watching Thunder/Rockets on TV while following Giants via ESPN gamecast. When B’ball game ended, went to MLB-TV for cut-ins. Only problem there: listening to the village idiot Mitch Williams & awful Clilff Floyd. Normally MLB-TV goes to highlight show at 1:00 AM (EDT) but last night they stayed with the only game in progress–Giants/Dodgers. Talking heads finally shut up & we got Vin Scully PBP. Sure glad it was Friday night!

Tonight’s game on MLB, tomorrow on ESPN. GO GIANTS!!

3rdNking

dodgers are the only winning team at PAC BELL…

that’s not going to last much longer, thank god

nothing like the bums to get a team right

humm baby, Go Giants

3rdNking

….the LORE of ZITO continues to grow far beyond LEGEND status

Ryan

Looks like Posey was hitting ball where it was pitched. The double to center was out over the plate. The HR leaked back to the inner half. My feeling is that he looks for a location based on experience and baseball smarts. Belisario’s pitches run in, and that may be exactly what he was looking for – so he was thinking of letting out some shaft. I also think he goes into up the middle/opposite field approach. He has the uncanny ability to inside out the ball and take an inside pitch to the right side. What a hitter!

3rdNking

imagine Kershaw as a Giant, I can, he dominates here

only dodger i want

Matthew

Clutch, I somewhat agree that Kemp is a good guy, but I am seeing a certain ego in him that is becoming unbecoming. His expressions seem a bit entitled, which can happen to “superstars” but those with humility are more cautious in that display. Also, I see him inconsistent in effort. Watch him “chase” The ball in the gap in the 6th… Minimum effort. (As for attitude, I am increasingly worried by Pagan… But I also see him check himself at times, so is likely worried as well)

I have much more respect for Kershaw, who is as talented and his “air” seems more proper

OMT, totally agree about the annoying crawls on network games. I have mentioned before. I also imagine, especially here in the valley on channel 31, these games crush their typical viewer count.. If people, in today’s world, continue to turn on these Friday nights expecting to see Boy Meets World, perhaps they can check the 50 different places where the broadcast schedule is listed. Instead these channels run continuous loop messages that totally distract the eye at critical moments. How many viewers really need this information? 5? 10?

Leonard Bonilla

It was a very bad decision to send Posey home on that single to center field. The odds against him beating a throw from Kemp had to greater then the odds against the next batter up would get a base hit.

Now we get to see Vogelsong (The Man Who Fell To Earth). It just may be that Vogelsong has reverted to his life time averages and is spent. I truly hope I am dead wrong. The only thing is he hasn’t shown any improvement, yet neither has Mat Cain. I guess they both are screwed up right now. Lets hope the Month of May is “merrier” for them.

Michael

I think I was pretty clear that I wasn’t criticizing Posey. He’s just not going to hit a lot of HRs here. But there is a hitter profile that can and has done that. Forget Pill and Dominguez, but maybe Susac, possibly Duvall. Williamson, we’ll see. Angel has picked it up of late in San Jose, but can’t see us keeping him. Harris had the 6 HR in 6 games, he’s 25 and still in A-ball..Duvall has been out with a thumb injury and he’s a real “clank mitt” at third, but he’s a “light tower power” guy, I think you have hold onto those guys at least for trade value- we got Pence for one.

Lefty

Slide Dog says:
May 4th, 2013 at 8:39 am

You almost never see him pull one down the third base line however, so for Posey, jerking one is a matter of degree. He’s one talented dude.
—————
I immediately thought of one notable exception to that statement: Game 4 of the World Series, tucked neatly inside the left field foul pole!

But yeah, I’ve thought the same thing about the Giants’ current RH hitters not pulling the ball to left enough at AT & T. Can’t help remembering Kent, Aurilia, and Burks in the early years of the park and Burrell in 2010. I bet if Giancarlo Stanton played here…ahhhh.

Lefty

I kind of like Kemp myself, but I think he’s got some emotional maturity issues. He could and should be the leader of this Dodger team as their homegrown superstar. While he seems to have moved beyond his “being distracted by dating Rihanna” phase, he still doesn’t show great judgment and even has pretty public fits of rage. He was out of control during that Greinke/Quentin fiasco, and him confronting Quentin like that after the game was just beyond stupid. Hadn’t the Dodgers already lost enough in one night? What if Kemp got hurt in a fight with Quentin or even got arrested?

Kemp IS a 49ers fan, and I do love that “I got lost in your eyes” video game commercial…

South City Jim

Almost can’t believe I’m saying this but I feel bad for Dodgers with all these injuries…Ramirez the latest. I hate the bums but I want to beat them at full strength. I can’t recall ever seeing a team with so many injuries at the same time. Also, I agree with Clutch and Michael…bad mojo to route for injuries…Jobu not like.

Ryan

If Posey and Pence got more pull happy, their averages would suffer. Going up the middle gives hitter some margin for error with their timing. But they both know how to deposit mistakes into the left field bleachers. I barely ever anticipate Sandoval yanking one into the left field bleachers. It’s just not his strong side.

Without starting a riot, don’t you think Brandon Belt could really benefit from hitting in another ball park? I think he hits an inordinate amount of balls that are outs in SF, SD, and LA that would be off or over the wall in a lot of ballparks. Everybody gets victimized to some degree, but maybe Belt more so. He flips a lot of deep fly balls to left and to right center gap that just aren’t enough at home.

By the way, I don’t know if folks have noticed this but teams are really taking a middle of the diamond approach against Zito. The cutter has entirely changed the way teams approach him. Hanley tried to jack a 3-0 pitch last night but for the most part hitters are taking significant swing out and thinking CF and opposite field.

Pagan2Lanier

Great win! Here in New York this blog is a daily lifesaver for 50 year+ Giants fan. New York radio is awash with calls re: Wheeler’s ascendance to stardom. I remind Mets’ fans that Pagan has been a real spark plug for the Giants. He is a different player than the guy I watched with NY in terms of his hustle, mood and energy. Bochy and the team spirit really make a difference.

Lefty

SC Jim: I think the Yankees would argue that they deserve the title of the most devastating injuries right now:

–Arod
–Jeter
–Granderson
–Teixeira
–Nova
–Cervelli
–Youkilis
–Joba

Wow.

At least the Dodgers still have Kemp, Ethier, Gonzalez (probably just out a day or two), C. Crawford, Kershaw, Beckett, and all their relief pitchers…

Yeah, they’re filling in holes with some scrubs, but that’s a lot of All-Stars NOT on the DL. In contrast, look at that Yankees’ list!

Ryan

Giants trainers may be the MVP of MLB.

Nice post from NY, P2L

South City Jim

Lefty,

Forgot about the Yanks, but I’d call it about a tie. From my point of view Arod and Jeter are done anyway. Dodgers started with 9 starters if you include Fife, traded one, and now have 3 or 4 plus a kid with one start under his belt.

Matthew

I’m not smart enough to know the answer to this, but…. Are all of these injuries that the Dodgers and the Yankees are suffering purely random? Are the training methods the Giants employ, especially for pitchers, superior at avoiding arm injuries? Is Dave Groeschner a magician, and our strength and conditioing coach ( whose name escapes me) also a magician? Are the team leaders doing such a great job of leading by example that the rest follow and the health and fitness is infectious?

Or, are the Dodgers suffering from horrible luck?

Idontgetit

Don’t tell anyone but Mattingly just is not an NL guy and it hurts his team. I love that fact though. Sportcenter gave Posey’s walkoff all of ten seconds, whatta joke along with Joe West behind the plate. He was killing those pitchers. Gonzo’s neck, Hanley’s butt, Greinke’s shoulder, Crawford’s whatever, and all the other pitcher’s issues is Karma for using Guggenheim blood money to buy the team. LOL

ClutchUp

Savvy Michael, SlideDog, FoothillsHubbelFinchAlbertC/Orion, Lefty, SCJim you are all correct about Busters swing.

From a tad to the left plus some/ChevCar sign to the F/Pole the ball flies out of left fiel.

The Uggla, Jeff Kent, Willingham type swing path will provide a “gone as soon as he hits it” result.

Unfortunately with some like Uggla that produces a .229 type average.

Buster “might” hit 30+ later in his career but his average will be @ .275-ish.

Matthew, good questions, I don’t know either. When Zito arrived in 2007 he introduced the long toss to the other starters. Outside of that, I don’t know why our pitching has remained relatively healthy in comparison to other teams. Dodgers have had a lot of hammies past two years. Too much lifting? Beats me.

Lefty

The Dodgers and Yankees are suffering from a serious case of being OLD. The Phillies came down with it last year, too.

I just looked at the Dodgers’ current active roster. Even if you figure that they’ll put Hanley on the DL and bring up Dee Gordon, 18 of 25 of them are over 30. Of the ones that are under 30, only some are significant players–Kemp, Kershaw, Ryu, and Jansen. The others–Sellers, Gordon, and Magill–are really minor leaguers.

totalfan62

Pagan2Lanier: great handle! Just flashed on ’64 Giants, the original Pagan (Jose) at SS and a young Hal Lanier at 2B, before he moved over to SS. Great four-team battle for the NL pennant (no divisions or WC back in the day), Cardinals overtake the choking Phillies in the last week, as Dodgers & Giants come up a bit short. Great memories!

South City Jim

You know, there’s a 1% chance that Jobu likes this Puig kid and is saying to the Dodgers FO that I’m going to keep injuring your players until you bring him up. The baseball gods work in mysterious ways.

Matthew

Chris Stewart flexing his muscles at Yankee Stadium….

Ryan

ClutchUp says:
May 4th, 2013 at 10:41 am

++++++

Nice one Clutch. How did Mr. Acton do on the hill?

JStreet

Better than one percent. As good as any other explanation I suppose. That, and the overall hubris of the Dodgers FO and surroundings..

ClutchUp

Matty-Ice aka Matthew:

Strength guy is Carl Kochan (surprised they don’t moderate)

Players love the guy!

I think its a Giant Belief System in what Carl applies having learned knew applicatins, plus the in house personal chef.

Some players on other clubs have their own personal lift trainers. Not the G boys.

Crawls will be suseptible to hammies in about 5 yrs. He’s a heavy squat workout guy. Look @ him in his uni. Lower have is yoked and thick, built ala “Ricky”.

JStreet

Hey Ryan, I delayed listening to that music link the other day, now can’t locate. Thanks for the thought.

Ryan

It’s all in the hands of the Baseball Gods. Always. But teams forge their own destiny and/or negotiate deals with The Devil.

Lefty

I don’t know how much Jobu likes Puig. He’s already been on the DL and been arrested this season, and he’s only hitting .244 in AA.

ClutchUp

“Riles” aka Ryan

121 HS pitches. 114 after 6. Told him he was done. Youngster not happy. I told him to tell me why he should go out when he should have been @ 90 after six inn.

Great eye contact and fire in his belly. So I pulled a Baker and let him loose. Took 7 pitches to complete game.

We were down 1-0 thru Bottom five. Put up 7 in B5.

We won 8-4.

Michael

I don’t recall anyone suggesting that Posey and Pence got more pull happy. But they *don’t* deposit many mistakes in the LF bleachers here. And no, Pablo doesn’t doesn’t hit many to LF either. The pernt was it wouldn’t hurt to have a hitter or two who can. As we’ve had many times in the past.

SurfCity

SCL, the only thing about going from 8 starters down to four, is that they had to get rid of 4 of them anyway. I mean, don’t keep 8 or 9 starters around on a team. You either convert some, trade some, or cut some — in this case they ended up getting injured.

Guess it’s an ironic (or some better word) happening considering the Dodgers approach of acquiring players by the bushel.

SurfCity

typo: SCJ, sorry.

South City Jim

Einstein god D’s and F’s in high school math. Puig’s bored. A’s didn’t bother sending Cespedes to minors because they knew he’d be bored. Put Puig under the lights with the big boys and he’ll deliver the goods.

South City Jim

*Einstein got…

Surf, I get it, only need five starters. But it is funny that they start with a surplus and they already have a deficit less than 30 games in.

Lefty

Capuano is scheduled to come off the DL and make a start for the Dodgers on Monday, so they’ll have four legit starters (Kershaw, Ryu, Beckett, Capuano) and youngster Magill. That’s no so bad. A lot of teams would happily take that rotation.

Lilly hasn’t really contributed since 2011, so he’s no great loss. Billingsley IS a loss, but it’s no big surprise, either. As for Greinke–well, that was weird. It will be interesting to see when he can come back and how effective he is.

channelclemente

Lefty,

Jobu loves Puig, especially Jamaican style.

Lefty

Even if Puig is ready this minute, the Dodgers still have the problem of three high-priced outfielders already on the team. To make room for Puig they’ll have to trade Ethier–and good luck with that, considering his big contract and his underwhelming start–or jettison Carl Crawford, who’s actually been their best hitter so far this year. Nice problem to have, I guess.

ClutchUp

I know its been spoken about before, but BB9′s shot to RCF was a B O M B

Anyone notice the animated conversation between Torres and Roberto Kelly after Andres retreated to first base.

Made me smile, because in a different part of the game … later … a guy like Scutaro tags up in an out of the box unconventional manuever.

Also can we clear this up?

Flann sending Posey was the correct call, there was no similarity to the Sandoval attempt last week.

Can’t wonder that’s its Buster and can’t hold him because Arias is on deck!

Lefty

Strategically (game situation), I agree that sending Buster to the plate was the right call. However, I have to also agree that taking risks with Buster on plays like that may not be worth it, considering the big picture. You can’t put him in bubble wrap, but…I bet the Dodgers would rather Kemp not crash into any more walls, either. And that Greinke would have turned tail and run like Mota did when Piazza was chasing him.

Hustle and heart are important, but when you’ve made such a huge investment in individual players, you have to think about that, too–it’s part of the picture.

channelclemente

I am reminded, with regard to the wisdom of the current Dodger ownership, the Guggenheims, that members of that family booked passage and sailed on the Titanic after receiving assurances from the Irish ship builders that it was unsinkable. MTRIP.

channelclemente

I am reminded, with regard to the wisdom of the current Dodger ownership, the Guggenheims, that members of that family booked passage and sailed on the Titanic after receiving assurances from the Irish ship builders that it was unsinkable. May they RIP.

channelclemente

I am reminded, with regard to the wisdom of the current Dodger ownership, the Guggenheims, that members of that family booked pa$$age and sailed on the Titanic after receiving a$$urances from the Irish ship builders that it was unsinkable. MTRIP.

South City Jim

Lefty, good point about the Dodger OF. Sometimes you’re just too dang logical.

Where’s Peakfreek? Last year he/she was adamant that Cruz was playing over his head. Apparently Peak was right.

channelclemente

Lefty,

it’s a kids game with big kids playing it.

South City Jim

Re comment because the other one is in moderation.

Where’s Peakfreek? Last year he/she said that Cruz was playing way over his head and apparently Peak was right.

South City Jim

Lefty, your point is well taken.

I remember a game a couple of years ago where Cueto was spinning a gem and he was batting and hit a slow roller up the middle and ran his butt off to make it to 1B and just got called out. He came back to the dugout and Dusty gave him a earful for running that hard.

Can you imagine the state of the Dodgers’ morale right about now? They never had achieved team consciousness in the first place with a garage sale collexion of high-priced spare parts and ego cases. They started out with an embarrassing overload of 8 starters, dumped one as the season got underway and then saw their Rotation virtually dissipate into thin air. Then the injury bug started smacking their position players upside the head. Somebody up there in Baseball Valhalla must be sore about something emanating from LaLaLand.

So then last night they had their ace of aces run out vs. Yo-yo Zito. On paper it looked like a no-brainer. Eleven hits they had over 9 innings but only one measly run that was initiated by Kershaw’s double and Punto actually driving in a RISP. Zito opened almost every inning with a man on first. Heavy traffic throughout. But he proved out as he artful Dodger dodger, toughing it out.

Over a pair of innings Pence, Belt and Zito worked the count to full before getting put down by Opie. Early on there was a huge disparity in the pitch count, but the selective hitters on the SF roster gradually evened it out even though K. was still going no-no after five.

Four hits on the night vs. Kershaw and Belisario. None in Jansen’s inning. The one that counted vs nine of the LaBumbos 11 has been well described and analyzed by the close watchers on this blog. Amazing piece of work by the reigning NL MVP. All Giants fans bustered out in smiles after that one.

But imagine the mood of the guys in blue going into tonight’s game. Time for Vogelsong to take advantage and get his ship back on course. Bums are reeling and listing heavily. Giants need to pile it on tonight. No mercy. They do know how to do it.

stickman

Jeeze: Now we gotta watch and edit every one of our posts to make sure that we have properly a$$essed our usage of three linked letters (no not Art Linklater) in order not to offend the purity gremlins installed by some technogeek at the Merc. Otherwise, we await moderation like my 12:01 a$$essment of last night’s game. Asinine.

ClutchUp

I don’t disagree with Lefty nor Jim. However its difficult to micro manage that momentary thought for Bochy and Flann.

Smiling, I know there’s not a sign from Boch to Flann that says hold Busster if you think he might get hurt and of course you all know that.

I’m thinking BoFlann was thinking two things:
Kemp please catch Pences ball …
Or
Had there been less than 2 outs they would have ‘booked’ the move and held him.

channelclemente

Posey did exactly the right thing. You can’t play baseball like an investment decision, just look at the Dodgers for an example of that mindset.

Watched Buster’s postgame interview on CSN Bayarea.
A beat writer asked him about his sliding in to home plate.
Buster turned, and smiled like a kid and said,”I’ve sliden into home plate a lot!”

He truly amazes me with his complete lack of self importance.
He is so unaffected by what he does. The moment for the team.
I hope the guy that pushed for the Giants to draft Buster has a ring.

channelclemente

Richard,

one might say Posey doesn’t have an ounce of Beltran in him.

Richard in Winnipeg

The thing about the Giants that is so amazing is the complete joy they show for each others accomplishments. Pagan blows me away with that big kid grin on his face as he is running on to the field. Pence, what do we say about his what he brings to the team. It is so much fun for an old guy like me to see these guys playing like a bunch of kids and enjoying it too.

ClutchUp

Richard: INDEED John Barr has a ring.

Two of them!

Richard in Winnipeg

Thanks Clutch;

So it was John Barr!

Thanks.

Whose the next Superstar on the team from our current minor league players?

Is it a pitcher or a positon player?

I thinking Blackburn.

ClutchUp

Wine Baroness: with Scutaro @ third and a drawn in infield, Panda grounded out for two down, Scoots holding.

I would say a pitcher has the best chance though – a guy like Kyle Crick could develop into the next Matt Harvey or gas throwing ace.

The Giants will be fortunate if Blackburn can be a Rick Reuschel or Don Robinson or even Sydney Ponson.

Mac Williamson certainly has a high ceiling. Joe Panik and Andrew Susac may become regular big leaguers with some star power. Francisco Peguero and Roger Kieschnick have a chance to stick and be contributors.

Ryan

Blanco batting 6th, Belt batting 8th, hahahahahahahahah !

SMH

Mike Souza

Magic Johnson being the face/mouthpiece of the Dodgers sickens me!

Lefty

Ryan,

Haha. From the body type of the gentlemen you mentioned as comparisons, I take it you’ve seen photos or video of young Mr. Blackburn. I’m surprised you left out Livan Hernandez.

I like Panik to be a nice solid contributor, the 2B of the future. I’ve also had my eye on Hembree since he was in San Jose. And I’m intrigued by Adam Duvall.

Lefty

Mike: We Warriors fans have it the other way–one of the co-owners of the Dubs is also an owner of the Dodgers. Ugh. It’s just wrong. At least with Magic he’s affiliated with two LA teams!

Ryan

Blackburn is physically developed and doesn’t have much room for projectability. He’s husky. His command is advanced and features very good sinking action on the fastball. They should accelerate him and get as many good years as possible out of his young arm. He probably won’t throw 88-92 forever. Such is the business of baseball.

Ryan

Who is listening to Marty?

Lefty? Matthew ?

Rob Neyer is a real good baseball mind.

Mike Souza

Lefty,
This is true.

Matthew

I’m sorry, Fryan… F Ryan…Ryan Hill Foot..

Not doing Marty.. Only when stuck driving to a game. Neyer is good, eh?

Ryan

Marty misses you Matthew.

Ryan

Clayton Blackburn just sounds like he knows how to pitch. Sounds like he has a real good head on his shoulders. I like his prospects. With Blackburn, Kickham,, Heston and Surkamp, perhaps Crick and one of the young lefties are moveable for the right player.

http://nada paul in p.v.

Snorkel has not seen Blackburn, but reports seem to consistently be surprised by his effectiveness – in baseball, you can never judge a book by its cover. )

Today Dickey pitched a game that could be characterized as the exact opposite of what Zito did yesterday. He allowed eight baserunners and seven scored. Three homers. I recall and interview at MLB.com last year with Dickey and the interviewer asked him what becomes of a knuckleball that makes more than two full rotations and Dickey said something like (paraphrasing) “it becomes a souvenir for someone sitting in the left field bleachers.”

Ryan

CC,

Your thoughts on Belt not having protection? Unlikely to get good pitches to hit with RISP. This is not optimum. Blanco/Peguero/Torres are much better fits for #8. Crawford did great there, but I’d rather he get some pitches to hit also.

channelclemente

Ryan,

he put Belt there in my opinion, because if he exercises the kind of zone discipline he’s capable of, he’ll be fine. Either his BA will prosper, or his OBP.

Ryan

I call walks in front of the pitcher artificial OBP inflators.

Take a guy capable of XBH RBI’s and put him in a spot where he won’t have protection for 2-3 AB’s. It just doesn’t seem that smart.

Ryan

…unless the underlying intelligence of the move is to get Belt back in a groove where he is swinging at strikes and taking pitches that are intentionally out of the zone.

Lefty

Is Belt OUT of a good groove? Seems like most of his ABs in the past couple weeks have been better. Even the two against Kershaw were pretty good. The first one he took to a full count and about 8 pitches before striking out, and the second he killed a ball over 400 feet to right-center.

I think the bottom line is the Giants are 4-0 since Belt moved to the #8 spot–and he had the game-winning hit in two of those wins–so whether it makes sense or not, there he stays until there’s a reason to change.

I’m more bothered by Blanco hitting sixth ahead of Crawford, but what do I know? He’ll probably hit two doubles and drive in three runs tonight.

Matthew

Ryan, anyone hitting 8th is due that artificial inflator given the dearth of hittable pitches they also must endure… No?

Ryan

I think that’s true if they are swinging at bad pitches. But pitchers should abstain from nibbling on the 8th hitter with bases empty. It’s known as a tough spot to hit.

And just because they win some games making questionable moves doesn’t mean they should continue them. They should put the best lineup on the field regardless of what worked yesterday. #8 hitter speaks for itself. If he’s the least effective hitter, then so be it. But he has much more upside that Blanco/Torres/Peguero.

It will all work itself out someday. It just has that “punitive” feeling. How much does Belt like seeing himself penciled in 8th.

The Oracle

Belt continues to hit eighth because baseball people are the most superstitious in all of sports.

Matthew

I was beginning to type a note similar to what Oracle just said… And add that Belt sees the W’s following along his spot at 8 so may actually take pride. Also, the overall choices for 8 mean that someone of decent plate talent must hit in that spot… It’s not like we’re stuck with Hal Lanier or Johnnie Lee…

Ryan

Blanco/Peguero/Torres should bat 8th. And that’s pretty much the end of the story.

The Oracle

Bochy is also probably wearing the same underwear for the fifth game in a row, assuming that he actually wears underwear.

Lefty

Thanks, Oracle. Now instead of worrying about Vogey, I’m going to spend the game worrying about Bochy going commando.

We did hit Tres Hermanas for Rally Enchiladas for lunch, so I’ve done all I could do.